Just as certain professions—doctors,
nurses, medical technicians—have been
deemed recession-proof, health-care
projects, including assisted living, were the
jobs-to-have for interior
designers, according to
our annual survey of
the second 100 Interior Design Giants
firms. Although down from prerecession days, health care clearly gave
these Giants a shot in the arm. Interior design fees from this segment
went up nearly 50 percent from just
two years ago and are now more than
$37 million. This represents an astonishing jump from 9 to 13 percent of
total fees for the group.
Industry watchers pay special attention to this segment. With fewer
“star” projects, which throw off averages, health-care is possibly the best
indicator of general trends, and that
proved to be the case with this survey.
Total­design fees were up 2 percent,
to $278 million, compared to the 40
percent nosedive reported last time.
In other words, fears of a double
dip seem to have dissipated. Layoffs
continue—the second 100 Giants let
4 percent of their design staff go—
but the previous 35 percent pink-slip
massacre seems to be in the past. For
the designers who survived, salaries
were flat, and reports of unpaid over-

back to health

lacasse photography

time and vacation days were common,
but at least there was stability.
This stability was bolstered partly
by the aggressive pursuit of segments
that received short shrift in the past:
not only health care but also related,
overlapping sectors such as government and educational. (A quarter of
all “government” work dealt with medical facilities.) Over half these Giants
worked for government agencies, bring­
ing in over $9 million, up $2 million from
two years ago. Educational work, mostly
colleges and universities, simultaneously rose by more than $5 million.
At first glance, all that public-sector
work seems logical in the era of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act. But these Giants reported only a
15 percent boost from the stimulus
package. One explanation is that some
government and health-care activity
is outside the U.S.—work abroad has
been on a slow rise since 2006.
Foreign projects generated more
than 11 percent of the group’s revenues. Over half these Giants already
report building in Asia, and 24 expect
continued growth in China. One new
Giant, the first to be based in Shanghai, worked exclusively outside the
U.S. during the study period: EDG
Corporation employs the group’s
second-largest staff, including the
highest number of designers.

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Trending away from expectations is
the green sector. Fewer of these Giants
offer sustainability analysis—even as
eco-related fees rose, and the commitment to LEED guidelines strengthened.
It’s a bit of a paradox that, while more
green square footage was completed,
the number of firms citing sustainability as an important factor in design
decisions fell to 86 percent from 92
percent a year earlier. Of course, there
are exceptions. One Giant collected
100 percent of fees from green design,
with most of the products specified being sustainable as well. Retrofits also
reached the highest levels ever reported, 100 percent at five firms.
So, with cost cuts already in place,
these Giants appear poised for a pos­
itive year, and they seem to agree
that the most important thing is not to
hide their light under a bushel. As one
spokes­person put it, “We have begun
a concerted effort to increase our
reputation as experts in our field and
to generate a sense of familiarity between our clients and the members of
our team.” To help that happen, several Giants are making more appearances at industry events and forays
into the realm of social media. “We’ve
encouraged all staff to be creative
marketers,” another respondent says.
Welcome to the Twitter-verse.
—Ron Marans

* We learned of Cheryl Rowley Designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closing after the July issue went to press. Had the firm not been included in our Giants ranking, BG Studio International of New York
would have been number 200.

Methodology The second installment of the two-part annual business survey of Interior Design Giants comprises

the second 100 largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2010. The first 100
Giants firm ranking was published in January. Interior design fees include those attributed to:
1. All types of interiors work, including commercial office, hospitality, retail, health care, and residential.
2. All aspects of a firm’s interior design practice, from strategic planning and programming to design and project
management.
3. Fees paid to a firm for work performed by employees and independent contractors who are full-time staff equivalent.
Interior design fees do not include revenues paid to a firm and remitted to subcontractors who are not considered full-time
staff equivalent. For example, certain firms attract work that is subcontracted to a local firm. The originating firm may collect all
the fees and retain a management or generation fee, paying the remainder to the performing firm. Amounts paid to the latter
are not included in fees of the collecting firm when determining its ranking. Ties are broken by the dollar value of products
installed. The data was compiled and analyzed by the Interior Design market research staff in New York, led by Wing Leung,
research director.